Physicians and patients alike tend to avoid frank discussions about “code status” -- whether a patient would want CPR or mechanical ventilation in the event of a cardiac or respiratory arrest. When doctors address code status at all, they tend to phrase the questions in such a way to cut off any thoughtful discussion: “If your heart stops, do you want us to restart it?” “If you stop breathing, do you want to go on a ventilator?” The answers to these questions are almost always yes, and the conversation is a short one.